Why are there so few women in information technology? Assessing the role of personality in career choices

Despite increases in female labor force participation, women remain substantially under represented in most scientific and technical fields. The small number of women in engineering, physics, chemistry, computer science and other similar fields has variously been attributed to discrimination, differences in ability or choice. This paper uses a unique data set containing information on vocational interests to examine the determinants of entry in to Information Technology occupations. We show that men and women differ systematically in their interests, and that these differences can account for an economically and statistically large fraction of the occupational gender gap.     

Working in Multidisciplinary Community Mental Health Teams: The Impact on Social Workers and Health Professionals of Integrated Mental Health Care

Correspondence to Professor John Carpenter, Centre for Applied Social Studies, University of Durham, Elvet Riverside II, Durham DH1 3JT, UK. E-mail: J.S.W.Carpenter{at}dur.ac.uk Summary This study investigated the relationships between the organizationof community mental health services and professional and teamidentification, team functioning and the psychological well-beingand job satisfaction of staff working in multidisciplinary communitymental health teams (CMHTs). Staff in four districts in theNorth of England completed anonymous questionnaires on two occasions,twelve months apart. There were systematic differences in teamfunctioning, favouring teams in districts where mental healthand social care services were integrated. However, service organizationhad no evident impact on professional or team identificationor on outcomes for staff in terms of stress or job satisfaction.There were differences between social workers (n = 31) and healthservice professionals (n = 82) indicating that social workershad poorer perceptions of team functioning and experienced higherlevels of role conflict. Controlling for other factors includingthe study districts, role conflict was a significant predictorof stress and of job dissatisfaction, while role clarity promotedjob satisfaction. We conclude that support and supervision aimedat ensuring a social work contribution to multidisciplinaryworking should be provided in the course of establishing CMHTsand integrated health and social care services.     

The encounter with family violence and risky sexual activity among young adolescent females

In this article, we analyze the relationship between family violence and risky sexual activity for female adolescents (age 14 to 17). We examine two forms of family violence: experience (receiving physical abuse from a parent or parent-figure) and exposure (witnessing interparental physical violence). We hypothesize that either form of violence will predict greater odds of engaging in risky sexual behavior. We define risky sexual activity as any of the following: having multiple partners within the last 12 months or having sex with partners who are themselves engaging in risky behavior (e.g., having multiple partners of either sex, injecting unprescribed drugs, sharing unprescribed needles for injecting drugs). We analyzed data from 710 respondents taken from the National Survey of Family Growth, Cycle V, living with at least one biological parent. Results showed that experiencing violence from a parent greatly increased the likelihood of risky sex, even when controlling for the experience of forced sex, age, mother's age at first birth, race, socioeconomic status, and religiosity. Female adolescents who had experienced forced sex, those who were older (especially 17-year-olds), non-Hispanic Blacks (but not Hispanics), those living in a family with low educational attainment (less than a high school diploma), and those for whom religion was not or only somewhat personally important were more likely to report risky sex compared to others. These effects were not modified by whether the respondents lived in single- or two-parent families. An interaction between the two forms of physical violence suggests that either form is sufficient to increase significantly the odds of risky sex; an analysis in which respondents were differentiated by their experience of either form of violence showed a strong effect of experience on risky sex, net of the control variables.     

Approaches to the study of gender in marriage and family therapy curricula

This study compares two accredited marriage and family therapy programs: One includes a separate course on gender, and the other integrates gender throughout the curriculum. Students from the two programs rated their own and their peers' experience of how gender education effects therapy, program culture, and personal life. Results indicate that students from the integrated program view their peers as incorporating gender ideas in therapy to a significantly greater extent (t = 2.83, p < .05) than do students in the gender course program. However, students from the program that has a gender course leaned more toward agreement with feminist concepts than did students from the integrated program. Overall, students appear to be learning about gender and integrating these concepts into their work as therapists. Discussion is included on how to choose a gender curriculum.     

Impediments to Mothers Leaving Welfare: The Role of Maternal and Child Disability

This research examines the relationship between disabilities in families and exits from welfare. Controlling for variations in characteristics known to be associated with welfare exits, this study investigates and documents that specific configurations of disabilities in families are also strongly associated with reduced rates of welfare exits. The impact of a child with a disability on welfare exits is similar to the mother's own disability, with an impact equivalent in magnitude to minority status. The presence of a child with a disability limits the chances that a mother with disability will leave welfare. Our findings add to the literature on welfare dependency and have implications for welfare reforms that emphasize work, self-sufficiency, and reducing poverty.     

The Living Arrangements of Children in Immigrant Families in the United States1

Little is known about the living arrangements of first‐ and second‐generation immigrant children. Using data from the Current Population Survey and a multivariate approach, I compared living arrangements of immigrant children to U.S.‐born white children with U.S.‐born parents. Findings show, except for foreign‐born black and some Hispanic children, that foreign‐born children lived with married parents more frequently than did U.S.‐born white children with U.S.‐born parents. However, by the third generation, a pattern emerged showing a decline in living with married parents among some immigrant children and a rise in living with single parents. The noticeable “downward assimilation” amon some second and third‐generation immigrant children fits a theory of segmented assimilation and is concerning because single‐parent families confront more social problems and sociodemographic risks.     

The Case of Cubans: Racial Inequality in U.S. Homeownership and Home Values

Prior research finds that human capital may explain racial housing inequality, whereas others note the historical role that race played in creating unequal housing conditions. This study uses the case of Cubans in the United States to examine whether human capital explains Black–White housing inequalities, or if they are a result of nativity/cohort differences—a proxy for the federal policies that supported Cubans’ economic and social incorporation. Using pooled data from the American Community Survey, I examine how human capital characteristics and nativity/migration cohorts shape odds of homeownership and predicted home values among Cubans. Extended analyses using decomposition methods find that although human capital characteristics are important, they play a smaller role in explaining Black–White differences in homeownership and home values. Indicative of the changing structure of racial stratification in the United States, results reveal substantial inequality among the oldest of Cuban immigrants and U.S.‐born Cubans, despite a trend toward declining inequality among recent arrivals. Supported by the literature of systemic racism, the case of Cubans shows how human capital explanations do not sufficiently explain racial housing inequalities and how the future of racial stratification is one of inter‐ and intra‐ethnic group inequality.